By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
RIVERVIEW — A 33-year-old Detroit man with a suspended license was charged with operating under the influence of drugs the night of Dec. 13 after he struck a light pole with his pickup truck near the intersection of Sibley and Stonewood roads.
His vehicle, a white Dodge Ram 1500, sustained heavy driver’s side front end damage from the crash.
The driver smelled strongly of marijuana. He said he had been arguing with his wife on the phone and was trying to dodge a deer in the roadway when he struck the light pole. The airbags did not deploy, and he was uninjured.
The driver’s eyes were bloodshot and his pupils were dilated, and he failed standardized field sobriety tests.
A preliminary breath test was administered, and the man had a blood-alcohol content of 0.0, but the officer had probable cause to arrest the man for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs.
A search of the vehicle yielded a marijuana cigarette in the center console cupholder, as well as a medium-sized bag of marijuana, both of which were taken into evidence.
His pickup was impounded and towed. The driver was found to have 11 prior convictions for driving with a suspended license, so his metal license plate was confiscated and replaced with a paper plate.
He was uncooperative during the booking process and refused to consent to a voluntary blood draw, so a search warrant was obtained. He was then taken to Corewell Health Hospital in Trenton for the blood draw, which occurred without incident, and was then returned to the Riverview police station, where he cooperated with the booking procedure and was held.